Every action fit Geithner’s worldview: The financial system must be stabilized at all costs, as the only way to heal the economy so real people benefit. That included paying off AIG’s investment bank counter-parties at 100 percent instead of forcing a discount, or blocking Bair, the FDIC chair, from forcing higher capital rules on banks. Describing how he felt about Geithner’s response to his order, he said, “Agitated may be too strong a word.” He later added that “the speed with which the bureaucracy could exercise my decision was slower than I wanted.” As Suskind would conclude, “The Citibank incident, and others like it, reflected a more pernicious and personal dilemma emerging from inside the administration: that the young president’s authority was being systematically undermined or hedged by his seasoned advisers.”Īny objective look at Geithner’s actions in response to the financial crisis confirms that he would maximize his power on behalf of big banks, even if it meant going around his colleagues and his president. In Confidence Men, Geithner rejected Suskind’s account of the March 2009 meeting, saying, “I don’t slow-walk the president on anything.” But Obama didn’t deny it. But Citi haggled with regulators, dropping their capital requirement to $5.5 billion, about the same as what the bank paid out in bonuses that year. Geithner had devised “stress tests” to judge how large banks would handle another downturn, and Citi’s initial test estimated that the bank would need $35 billion in additional capital to reassure markets that it was safe. Little was asked from the company in return. Geithner and his bank regulator colleagues made sure a breakup wouldn’t be needed by using Federal Reserve loans, guarantees, and a third bailout to save Citi. It was a classic Washington move: When your boss asks for something you don’t like, just ignore it and hope that the request isn’t necessary when the boss follows up.
Geithner simply didn’t follow the request, failing to produce any proposal for the unwinding of Citi, according to Suskind. Obama wasn’t exactly gunning for bank retribution, as his dismissal of the Swedish option showed, but he approved the order that night and tasked the Treasury Department with nailing down the details. The worst assets would be put into a “bad bank,” with shareholders wiped out and the rest of the firm downsized and restructured. The below is a list of confirmations that were approved through the Senate from January to May 2009, by a recorded roll-call vote, rather than by a voice vote.They decided that the remaining bailout funds would be used to support a “resolution” of Citi. See also: Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination § Full Senate, and Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination § Full Senate ¶ Confirmations before June 2009 United States Ambassador to the United Nationsįormer Special Assistant to the PresidentĬhair of the Council of Economic Advisorsįormer Deputy Director of the National Economic CouncilĪdministrator of the Small Business Administrationįormer California Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
Secretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentĪdministrator of the Environmental Protection Agencyįormer Assistant Administrator for the EPAĭirector of the Office of Management and Budget **Elevated to cabinet-level in January 2012 They are listed in order of creation of the cabinet position (also used as the basis for the presidential line of succession).Ĭabinet Cabinet officials on Janu This page documents the nomination and confirmation process for cabinet nominees of Obama's administration. The Cabinet's creation was part of the transition of power following the 2008 presidential election. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.īefore confirmation and during congressional hearings a high-level career member of an executive department heads this pre-confirmed cabinet on an acting basis. Barack Obama assumed office as President of the United States on January 20, 2009, and his term ended on January 20, 2017.
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